Welfare Reform on the Web (September 1999): Child Welfare - UK

ANYBODY WHO BELIEVES THAT TEENAGERS WILL HOLD BACK FROM SEX BECAUSE IT
MIGHT COST THEM A FIVER SHOULD HAVE GONE OUT MORE WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG.

M. Hume

Times, June 16th 1999, p.20.

Argues that it is unrealistic to try to prevent teenagers from
having sex. Government should concentrate instead on preventing
unwanted pregnancies through easier access to improved contraceptive
services.

Describes scheme being piloted in Cambridgeshire that allows parents
to feed their personal details and child care requirements into
an online system, which then prints our information about local
nurseries, play groups, child minders and nannies, together with
availability.

CHILDCARE GAPS

Daycare Trust

London: 1999

Results of a survey show that child care provision for under-eight-year-olds
has improved since 1998 but gaps still exist. Those excluded
through cost or lack of provision include low income families,
students and shift workers.

CSA FACES THREAT OF PRIVATISATION

F. Abrams and A. Grice

Independent, June 23rd 1999, p.10

Tony Blair has threatened the Child Support Agency with privatisation
if planned reforms fail to bring in more money from absentee fathers.
It has been suggested that collection of late payments could
be outsourced to private security firms or the Inland Revenue.

EARLY INTERVENTIONS: EVIDENCE FOR IMPLEMENTING SURE START

S. Cowley

Community Practitioner, vol.72, 1999, p.162-165

Paper explains why the government has been convinced that a policy
to reduce inequalities in health and social exclusion must begin
with infants and families. It outlines some of the evidence that
shows the most effective early interventions to be multi-faceted
and community-based. Finally some of the issues that arose when
health visitors tried to identify outcomes from their service
are revisited to consider potential difficulties in evaluating
Sure Start.

FIRST CONTACT

D. Burley

Young People Now, June 1999, p.22-23

Reports results of research on three LEA-funded early intervention
projects in Peterborough. The projects were all targeted at disaffected
young people aged 11-14 at risk of exclusion. Study examined
the conditions for successful youth work intervention in such
circumstances. Concludes that youth work can make a distinctive
contribution to work with disaffected young people in schools
if key organisational arrangements are in place.

FIT PERSON CRITERIA

Better Regulation Task Force

London, 1999.

Report examines methods for ascertaining whether potential staff are fit to
work with children or vulnerable people. The Task Force recommends:

new criminal record checks to prove whether a person is fit to work with
vulnerable people;

checks on home-based service providers if there is a risk to vulnerable
people;

checks to be based on evidence and assessed against the risk of harm;

a review of access to high-level checks for small organisations and parents;

minimisation of duplication of checks leading to repeat fees;

clarification of forms of harm before statutory fit person checks are introduced.

MIXED-UP TEENAGERS NEED MORE THAN THIS BOTCHED JOB

P. Toynbee

Guardian, June 16th 1999, p.18

Argues that teenage pregnancies would be effectively cut by intensive
sex education and easier access to contraception. Girls yet pregnant
through ignorance, lack of sex education and the difficulty of
getting access to contraception. Young people need access to
friendly walk-in clinics and intensive sex education from a young
age.

MODERN SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE: PROPOSALS FOR ACTION

National Youth Agency

London: 1999

Paper explores the place of specialised youth work within broader
services for young people and argues the need for a minimum standard
of provision and coherent local arrangements to help young people
with their transitions to adult life and to promote their social
inclusion.

MOVING ON UP: HOW YOUTH WORK RAISES ACHIEVEMENT AND PROMOTES SOCIAL INCLUSION.

T. Burke, J. Hand and L. McFall

Nottingham: DfEE Publications, 1999

Highlights how youth work raises young people's achievements and
contributes to the key government agenda of promoting social inclusion.
Features ten case histories of projects that are making an impact
and explores the reasons for their success.

A NEW CONTRACT FOR WELFARE: CHILDREN'S RIGHTS AND PARENTS' RESPONSIBILITIES

THE POVERTY TRAP

Outlines the government's strategy for alleviating child poverty,
and considers the part that health visitors could play.

A QUALIFIED SUCCESS?

A. Thompson

Community Care, no.1275, 1999, p.23

Introduces the new Post-Qualifying Award in Child Care. This
is the first post-qualifying award based on national occupational
standards, which are meant to underpin the Quality Protects agenda
and meet the goals that the government expects every social services
department to deliver.

STRAW LAUNCHES FAMILY HELPLINE AFTER CRITICISM OF TAX REFORMS

I. Burrell

Independent, June 9th 1999, P.7.

Reports the launch of ParentLine, a national telephone helpline
for worried parents. This was one of 30 family friendly initiatives
announced to accompany publication of responses to proposals in
a government consultation document "Supporting Families".

TEENAGE
PREGNANCY

Social Exclusion Unit

London: TSO, 1999 (Cm 4342)

In order to cut the high rate of teenage pregnancies in Britain, report proposes:

publicity drive to show the harsh reality of life as a young mother;

lone mothers under 18 to be put into supervised hostels instead of being
allocated council flats;

Child Support Agency to pursue fathers of children born to teenagers for
maintenance payments;

expansion of the role of the school nurse in helping youngsters to get access
to contraception;

mothers under 16 to be required to return to school after 18 weeks birth
leave.

TOWARDS THE DISINTEGRATION OF CHILD WELFARE SERVICES

S. Petrie and K. Wilson

Social Policy and Administration, vol.33, 1999, p.181-196

Argue that the philosophies of the market place are flawed when
applied to children's services. Markets are predicated upon the
idea of competition between providers, in which poor quality providers
are forced out of the market and good quality providers remain.
Such thinking is unsuitable for the provision of children's services.
Children's needs are best met by care which is sustainable and
consistent, and it is essential that such care is planned strategically,
developed flexibly, adapted and supported over a period. Relational
contracting is one way of supporting such developments. However,
under the present system, the kind of approach currently adopted
by many local authorities seems destined rather to force good
committed providers out of the market altogether.

YOUTH WORK: THE POSSIBILITIES FOR CRITICAL PRACTICE

J. Bamber and H. Murphy

Journal of Youth Studies, vol.2, 1999, p.227-242

Paper seeks to explain what is meant by a critical youth work
practice and to show how this can be achieved by youth workers
in their everyday situations. Argues that the essential components
of social education (mutual trust and respect, power and purposeful
learning) can be extended into the sphere of social action by
linking the personal with the political. According to the three
stage model presented, empowerment begins when a group of young
people are encouraged by youth workers to make statements about
their social reality. This leads to a second stage involving
enlightenment, which, in turn, leads to a third concerning action.